……once again God; thanks for everything.

Menu

Wednesday 23rd March – Let’s have faith in peace

And, when I say ‘we’ – I use this word intentionally and in the most literal sense.

If the world keeps experiencing these terrifying, unprovoked atrocities, there is a very real possibility that a dangerous tipping point will be reached.

There is no comfort to be found in the idea that the attacks are planned at a level where our international intelligence agencies could predict or prevent them, they are occurring with increasing frequency in relatively ad-hoc circumstances in our cities and even, as I’m sure you remember, on holiday beaches in Tunisia.

Sites of historic significance are being irretrievably damaged and, as a global community of humans, we have absolutely no understanding of how to peacefully begin to reclaim some semblence of control.

Since the perpetrators of these horrific events are nameless, faceless and move unseen among us, it is entirely likely that, as international fear and horror increase, that paranoia will be the result.

A paranoia that could potentially be aimed at the Muslim faith in general.

We need to stand shoulder to shoulder with our peace loving Muslim brothers and sisters and give them the support they need, to quite rightly, distinguish themselves from the criminals who are using God as a reason to terrorise our planet.

I am not personally a Muslim, I’m a Christian, I do however believe very strongly in the civil liberty of a right to worship. It is a right that goes hand in hand with the most basic of human choices and for me, it is time to take a stand against the lunatics who are committing these acts of terror.

They are simply bullies, there is nothing more sophisticated or glamorous in the rationale.

Their strategy for power is to turn the world against devotees of the Muslim faith, as a warped justification to build a wall between our communities.

The time has come.

Now.

Today.

We can’t fight the terror, the only tool at our disposal is love. Love for our fellow man and the faith that this love will bind the peaceful.

In turn, our hope must be that this solidarity will isolate those determined to unleash hate and vitriol on us all.

To steal a line from Malcolm X: I’m for truth, no matter who tells it.